Everyone who owns a car, truck or minivan believes their insurance premiums are too high, but add some sort of moving violation to the mix and those costs can skyrocket … and not just for serious infractions.

New data from insuranceQuotes.com reveals DUI and reckless driving tickets will raise your annual premiums an average of 94% and 85%, respectively. Both are increases over 2015.

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Those type of jumps are stark, but not unexpected; however, a speeding violation of 15 mph or less will actually get your rate hiked by 21% on average, the site noted. (more…)

The Honda Civic may cost more, unfairly so, to insure if you live in the inner city, according to the CFA.

This story has been updated to include a response to the CFA study by an insurance industry trade group.

Millions of low- and moderate-income American motorists, especially those with lower education levels and living in inner cities, are being unfairly penalized with high insurance rates, even if they have steady jobs and clean driving records, contends the Consumer Federation of America.

In a survey of 15 cities and surrounding suburbs, these motorists routinely were required to pay at least $900 for collision and comprehensive coverage, with 50% being hit with bills of more $1,500, according to a new CFA study that checked rates for a 30-year-old female bank teller with 10 years driving experience and no collisions or tickets on her record, owning a 2004 Honda Civic.

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“The price can easily double or triple” for a person of moderate means and lower education, said J. Robert Hunter, the consumer group’s Director of Insurance and a former Texas Insurance Commissioner. (more…)

Gas prices are just one of the factors included in the new study of vehicle operating costs.

The cost of buying and owning a vehicle can vary widely, and not just because of the car or truck you choose but also according to where you live. And a new study finds that Georgia has become the most expensive state to operate a motor vehicle in – while Oregon is the most affordable.

The gap is substantial, a typical motorist likely to spend twice as much to keep a vehicle running in the Peach State once factors such as gasoline, insurance, repairs, taxes and fees are added in, found website Bankrate.com.

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The results of the new study might come as a surprise, particularly with Georgia landing at the top of the list – above more urban states such as New York, New Jersey and California. Actually, the Golden State wound up second on the list, at an annual $3,966 in automotive operating costs.

Rounding out the top five were:

Wyoming, at $3,938 a year;

Rhode Island, at $3,913; and

Nevada, at $3,886.

Several factors seem to unite the most expensive states. With the exception of Rhode Island, they’re big and motorists tend to have to drive a lot. They generally lack for mass transit alternatives and they have above-average gas prices and insurance costs. Georgia, in particular, has the highest automobile taxes and fees in the country, notes the new Bankrate.com report.

Georgia and California also have some of the highest repair costs in the country, according to a separate study by CarMD.com that was released last June, though Wyoming drivers fared better than average in that category.

One thing that most recent studies agree about is that the cost of ownership is going up at a steady pace – about 2% this year over 2012, according to data analyzed by the AAA. The insurance and travel organization found insurance rates likely to rise by 2.8% for 2013, while its own data predicted a whopping 11.3% jump in maintenance and repair bills.

(Click Here to find the least — and most — expensive states for car repairs.)

Those figures are averages and, as with fuel costs, registration fees and other automotive expensives, the numbers are expected to vary widely from state-to-state.

The national average for operating a vehicle is $3,201, according to Bankrate.com, and Oregon lands at the bottom of the list, just $2,204 annually. Residents of the Beaver State benefit from the lack of a state sales tax, low auto insurance costs – and the fact that they drive, on average, 16% fewer miles than the national average.

Maine drivers pay the lowest for insurance of any state in the country, Louisiana the highest.

The price two different motorists will pay for auto insurance is likely to vary, sometimes wildly, and factors such as the vehicle you drive, as well as your driving record can have a big influence on what you’ll shell out for coverage.

But another critical factor is where you live. Insurance coverage in Louisiana, for example, averages nearly three times as much for the average motorist, $2,699 a year in the Bayou States compared to just $934 for those living “down East.”

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“Louisiana can’t catch a break,” said Amy Danise, editorial director of Insure.com, which just completed its annual survey of national insurance costs.

Louisiana, she says, “is consistently at the top of our rankings. One way to mitigate the rate pain is to buy the cheapest car to insure in the state, which is the Jeep Patriot Sport in Louisiana. The worst choice would be a Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG sedan, which carries the highest rates in Louisiana.”

It’s easy to feel miserable when it comes time to fill the tank, fuel prices again on a fast rise across much of the country. And automotive insurance costs have been going up quickly, as well.

But how much you pay can vary widely depending upon where you live. A gallon of regular unleaded that will cost you $3.16 in South Carolina this week goes for a dollar more in Illinois, according to the latest tracking information.

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Combine gas and insurance and drivers in some states can expect to pay as much as $2,000 more than their motoring cohorts in other parts of the country, according to the new Automotive Misery Index.

It may have a quarter as many seats, but the Audi R8 Spyder will cost three times more than a Toyota Sienna minivan to insure.

If you’re worried about the cost of insuring your next car consider this simple mantra: “boring is better.”

Or so finds a new survey of automotive insurance, which finds that sports and luxury cars are the most expensive products to insure, while minivans – the Toyota Sienna people-mover, in particular – are among the most affordable.

The Sienna, for example, costs an average $1,111 to insure, according to the site’s annual survey, or less than a third what it would cost to cover the2-seat, 197 mph Audi R8 Spyder Quattro Convertible, at $3,384. Audi, in fact, has the dubious distinction of having two of the ten most expensive cars to insure, BMW also has 2, while Porsche and Mercedes-Benz each have three.